Tonight, I will be reviewing AFI's latest effort, Burials. I am excited about this one as I've had friends gushing about this album since it leaked a week or two ago; however, I have refrained from chasing down this leak in favor of going purist and listening to it on it's release night (another sure-fire blueprint to get you to heaven).
Apparently, AFI is burying the sun.
To match this brisk, autumn night, I will be drinking a spiced apple rum cider. It is delicious and already getting to work, so I suppose I should as well. On to the review!
Album:
Alcohol:
Spiced Apple Cider and Admiral Nelson's Spiced Rum
"The Sinking Night" opens the album subtly with an almost Pink Floyd-esque feel. Davey comes in soft and pretty. Strong Floyd similarities, but then... Drop out... Nope, comes back in still feeling like Pink Floyd. I dig it a lot. This sets up the album as dark as the cover would suggest. Meh to the fade out nding.
Electronics flow into "I Hope You Suffer". The epic sound continues, and thishas touches of later NIN. It's cool. And that kick in! Chorus tore my balls off. Dropping back into the verse. This song is the most urgent slow jam I've heard in a long time. It's cool. Drop. Back into that pants-shittingly awesome chorus. Drop into "ahhs" shouting vocals, and kicks back into a driving bridge. Cool drop off. Great song writing and structuring here. Badass tune. Lets hear the end... Drop to piano into pretty and subtle ending. Sexy.
Toms bring in the fast paced and lowkey "A Deep Slow Panic" Pretty guitar work accompanies Davey's equally pretty vocal work in the verse. Build into a light punk feeling chorus. Goo tune, but nothing spectacular. Nice to see they aren't killing the epicness of the first two tracks by following suit with every other song on the album. I can dig this tune, but definitely not the high point. Punk Ballad best describes this tune. It's a cool thing that AFI has done before, and they do it well.
"No Resurrection" opens with drums. And brown out--nosaved it! Pretty feel. Epicness comes back in a smaller dose. Perfect song choice coming out of the previous track. Lowkey verse is really cool. Driving, and feels like it's moving. Drop out is cool as hell, and the kick in? SHit. That was nice. Drop out to electronics. Vocal build with bass. Drums. Guitars. Oh, Jade. You sexy man, you. That little guitar line with the harmonics was nice. The drops and kick ins are being a bit overused, but done nicely everytime. I suppose I'll for give it. Cool brakdown. Guitars take us out. Fade out, but not as bad as the first fade out. I'll accept this ending.
"17 Crimes" comes in strong. Not heavy, but definitely sets up as a more punk tune. It feels again like punk ballad, but more umph. This definitely has a Sing The Sorrow vibe to it. Echo in the vocals was a bit cheesy, but I like the tune.
Into the slowly building "THe Conductor. Ahh... Smoke in my eye. Cool intro though. The verses have a realy cool feel. And the guitar work in this is just badass. Like shit. Drop out into the chorus. Again. However, as before, beautifully executed. All of their more epicy feeling songs have this cool almost linear song writing style that is awesome. The songs that channel typical AFI sounds are actuallythe low points thus far which I take as a great sign for where thay are headed as a band. Cool. Ass. Ending.
Into slow and subtle "Heart Stops". This has an almost indy rock sound, and I think this is the lowest I've heard Davey sing. This is like pop AFI. It's alright. Cool. Not the best song on the album, but I can dig it. I'm left with the thought: this is a cool song, but feels a lot like AFI was trying pop and made a rock tune.
BUT HOLY SHIT THAT TRANSITION TO THIS SONG! "Rewind" comes in out the previous trak, and you are like. Shit, that was cool. And it settles. the verse is nice, but then AFI starts kicking your ass from here to next Saturday before letting you rest again. But the pushing feel leaves you looking over your shoulder. Their attempts to quell you with beautiful guitar work are in vain as they use the familiar tactic of near drop out before shifting into ass kick mode again for the second chorus. I will take this point to say that, while the music take the pole position for me thus far. Davey may be at his best here. Like, this is really cool vocal work. Ending moves into a subtle piano after a drop out.
"The Embrace" comes in with a slow guitar and then a building delay line and FUZZ BASS! into electronic beat. Is this Vaudeville? (That's a joke for some friends =P) The kick in is nice. This reads as a pop rock tune, but again. With the AFI twist it maintains a fresh feel. Ofcourse, the second verse does nothing to distance this pop rock feel. Honestly, this reads like a radio crossover hit. A song that would score well with the general public, and it is well written, but it exploits so much of what is generally popular in rock music right now. Not really a fan of this one.
Into the punky feeling "Wild". That synth is cool with the punk tone of the song. And like that. AFI is back where they belong. it's like they knew we needed a reminder of what we were listening to after that last track. And that damn synth! So cool! Maybe the most upbeat song thus far, a nd I dig it.Whoa! Beakdown = awesome. Second break sown = AWESOMER! I may be drunk at this point, but that--ending is cool as HELL!
Into the driving and pretty "Greater Than 84". Settling back into the Sing The Sorrow vibe with a bit more edge, and the chorus feels a bit poppy, but still pretty cool. Whoa. Harsh transition. But cool. THis is like three songs collided, but done well. Kudos here. Not the best on the album, but a good tune nonetheless. Eww... Vocal echo again. Still igging the tune. Final chorus. The lyrics along witht he song title feel a little corny, but lets see the end... Meh... Okay...
"Anxious" comes out with drums, and gives way to a cool feel. Reminicent of Decemberunderground. Nothing too exciting thus far. Cool song, but rather meh compared to the previous. Gonna be honest at this point. The musi is cool, but I'm a bit scattered drunk, but this is--oh that was a cool break down. I like this tune, but I'm hoping for a stronger finisher. Like, actually, this tune is really cool. I'm just to out of focus to put my thoughts into typing. Time forre a cig. Cool end.
"The Face Beneath The Waves" opens all epicy again. But not Pink Floyd epic. More, like Tool epic? into a haunting chorus. The whole feel of this song is haunting in a really cool way.Oush! Did I skip tracks? That kick in was harsh, and I don't know that it help the song. Okay. settling bak into the cool scary feel. The second time that kick in happened I felt better about it. Maybe I am that drunk, but it's still abrupt.Cool break down. This almost as a more badass Tears For Fears feel. They dropped out before the final chorus because ofcourse they did. Still a cool song, but maybe too abrupt in their transisitons. Ending is a drop into some bass farts.
Final Thoughts:
While I can't say this album is solid front to back, I can say that it's an album worth owning. The front half alone is baass as hell, and although there are some low points, the good out weighs the bad. If you listened to the leak(shame on you) this is already know, but if you are on the fence and like anyhing AFI has put out in the last 10 years, this album is for you. Sorry AFI, but your album got me drunk.
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-Badhorse
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